


Don't Leave Me Here (Alone)

by RainingInExile



Series: Safe Keeping [2]
Category: James Bond (Craig movies)
Genre: Grief/Mourning, M/M, Much lighter than it sounds, Secret Marriage, Secrets, Temporary Character Death, probably
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-04-05
Updated: 2015-04-05
Packaged: 2018-03-21 08:36:01
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 880
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3685530
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RainingInExile/pseuds/RainingInExile
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Bond dies in the line of duty some of his well guarded secrets come to light, including a spouse.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Don't Leave Me Here (Alone)

**Author's Note:**

> This is a sequel to [Hold Onto This For Me](http://archiveofourown.org/works/3619434), but you won't need to read that to understand what's going on here.

“Have Bond’s things been moved into storage yet?” M asks evenly, clearly expecting a simple logistical answer.

Moneypenny hesitates a moment, unsure how to phrase the information she’s been given. “Actually Sir, his property has been given to his spouse.”

M looks up sharply at her. Moneypenny is well aware that Mallory deplores being blindsided by things he ought to know and, well, Bond being married is a rather big bit of news for all that no one seems to have noticed it before now.

“The papers were filed through the State, and it seems they forgot to inform us about it.” Moneypenny explains, certain her boss will detect the hint of exasperation in her voice.

“Forgot?” Mallory demands, raised eyebrow saying everything about his opinion of mid-level book keepers and the wasted government funds paying for them.

“Well Sir, I suspect that was his spouses’ doing.” She hedges. “Q is rather good at keeping information from trading hands when he wants to be.”

M‘s frown deepens. “What does Q have to do with any of this? Did Bond bribe him or something?”

Moneypenny would be biting her lip to rein in laughter if the situation weren’t so awful. The thought that this was the sort of thing she should have known about her colleagues upset her. “Q is-I’m sorry, was his spouse.”

Mallory blinks and raises a hand to rub as his temple. “Bloody hell.”

“Quite.” Moneypenny agrees, “Apparently Q and Bond went and got married and decided not to tell anyone.” She carefully ignores the knots tightening in her stomach as they have been all week since the agent was pronounced dead. “It would have been their six month anniversary in two weeks.”

M lets his head rest in his hand for a moment. “He hasn’t taken any time off yet, has he?”

Moneypenny shakes her head. “No Sir. Been here all the time except to sleep and even that not all that often.”

“I want you to offer him his bereavement time.” M decides. “And I expect you to ensure he takes it.”

She wants to tell him it’s going to be impossible to drag the man out of headquarters for more than a few hours, but instead she nods, already coming up with arguments and the like to convince him as she ducks out of the office and down the hall.

\--

Q is exactly where she expected him to be, sitting in front of several monitors and switching between them with dizzying speed and variance. “I’m a little busy at the moment, Moneypenny. Can it wait?”

Moneypenny gathers all of her calm and confidence, hoping the man will see sense before they have to drag him out.

“Actually M would like to remind you that you can take a week or two of bereavement leave to help you cope. More if you need it.” She explains patiently.

Q looks up at her with an incredulousness that almost makes _her_ feel like the one behaving ridiculously. “Whatever for?”

Moneypenny frowns gently and takes another couple of steps in, so she’s standing only a foot or so away from the young genius. “We know about you and Bond.”

Q gives her a mildly disgusted look that seems incongruous with everything she has learned so far. “What on Earth are you-“

“It’s fine. With everyone.” Moneypenny assures. “I think it’s good that Bond had something real with someone before the end.”

“Oh, bullocks.” Q curses resignedly.

She frowns, but Q’s always been a little odd in the emotional department, and she supposes it’s not her place to judge however he chooses to process. She only hopes he’ll ask for help if he needs it.

“M would prefer your leave began immediately.” Moneypenny tells him, confident he’ll catch on.

“Of course he would.” Q sighs. “Very well, I’ll be out before the end of the afternoon.”

Moneypenny frowns at his easy acceptance, having expected much more of a fight. He's doing what she asked though, so it's not like there's much she can complain about.

She pauses in the doorway as she’s leaving. “If you ever need anything…”

Q looks up with a raised eyebrow.

“I just want you to know I’m here. Even just to talk.” She finishes, holding his gaze with all the reassuring sincerity she can muster.

Q’s expression melts into something a little more open, and he smiles softly. It’s a hollow and bittersweet expression, like someone who’s lost something precious but is still holding onto hope that they might find it again. Moneypenny feels it like a punch to the gut.

This is why Q's been so cavalier about the whole thing. He doesn't think Bond is actually dead. There's certainly enough history of Bond pulling off the impossible and coming back to make it understandable, but at the end of the day 007 is just a man, and every man eventually meets his end. Q's only making it harder on himself by not accepting it.

Moneypenny takes a careful breath through her nose to keep the prickling behind her eyes at bay and does her best to smile back as she leaves, hoping the younger man will be able to pull himself back together before he loses himself searching for something that isn't there.


End file.
